The Real Prey

The bigger the matter, the higher-ranking the leader who showed up. That was the rule.

Take today's incident, for example. As Li Lan, deputy party secretary of the School of Information Engineering, saw it, it was nothing more than two students exchanging a few angry words. Neither had even suffered a minor injury.

There was no need for Dean Wang Hongfa to come at all.

Catching the smell of alcohol on him, Li Lan joked, "Old Wang, are you treating the review panel like your wife's family, drinking the customary wine with them before the newlyweds' first visit?"

Under normal circumstances, Wang Hongfa would probably have laughed and replied, "Keep the wife's family happy, and the husband's family—the university-will pay the bride price, meaning our funding."

But now, his face was solemn. "Old Li, this is no small matter."

"What happened?"

Li Lan was taken aback, but he immediately put on a serious expression as well.

Wang Hongfa lit a cigarette. "I was just having dinner with Liu from the review office. He's responsible for evaluating our academic disciplines for our bid to join the 2011 Project."

The 2011 Project was a plan led by the Ministry of Education to pool resources from universities, research institutes, and businesses to improve universities' capacity for innovation. Alongside the 985 and 211 Projects, it was a key national-level plan.

Becoming a 2011 university had been one of Xiaoheshan University of Technology's primary goals in recent years. Everyone from top to bottom attached immense importance to it, determined to secure the province's second slot in the 2011 Plan and cement its reputation as the second-best university in Zhe Province.

So for the time being, all other work had to give way to the review.

Hearing how serious the matter was, Li Lan grew solemn too.

He asked, "So Team Leader Liu knows about this too?"

Wang Hongfa flicked the ash off his cigarette and glanced sideways at Wu Chen, who had his head lowered in thought.

"He already knows, and he's very angry."

Li Lan silently cried out in dismay.

He was mainly in charge of student affairs at the school. With something going wrong at a time like this, he was bound to take some of the blame.

So he too gloomily lit a cigarette.

After finishing it, he looked around.

Seeing that everyone except Yang Yuanjing, who had gone to change, was present, he rapped on the table and announced the start of the meeting.

The first to speak was Zhao Lei, the deputy head of the security section.

He produced a plastic bag containing the chopsticks Yang Yuanjing had tried to use to stab Min Xinrou, sealed as evidence.

"Leaders... anyway, that's what happened. The weapon has also been sealed as evidence."

Zhao Lei's report was conventional and proper.

In theory, the people involved were supposed to give their accounts next.

But just as Min Xinrou stood up, Wang Hongfa suddenly cut in. "We can't call that a weapon, can we?"

Zhao Lei glanced at him and seemed to realize something. He hurriedly nodded. "Dean Wang is right. I misspoke. I should have called it an item involved in the incident."

"Mm, go on."

Wang Hongfa spoke with satisfaction.

But by doing so, he had interrupted Min Xinrou just as she was preparing to speak.

Li Lan and the others exchanged glances, a flicker of realization passing through their eyes.

By insisting that they not use the word "weapon," Wang Hongfa was presumably setting the tone for the matter.

That meant not escalating it, handling it simply, and keeping its impact contained within the school rather than raising it to the university level.

That was the least troublesome approach.

Li Lan also breathed a sigh of relief and smoked contentedly.

His attention had even drifted away from the stammering Min Xinrou, and he was considering which part of the night sky he should observe that evening.

He didn't have many hobbies; he just loved looking at the stars.

The Celestron 8SE telescope he had bought a couple of days ago had just arrived. He spent a long time looking through it every night and practically wanted to sleep with it in his arms.

Just as Li Lan was happily planning to end the meeting early, Wang Hongfa suddenly slammed his hand on the table.

"Wu Chen, tell us what happened!"

His sudden anger made everyone in the meeting room jump.

What was going on?

Weren't they going to make a small matter disappear? Why was he suddenly targeting Wu Chen?

Was it because Wu Chen had angered Wang Hongfa into the hospital twice before?

Was he taking this opportunity to go after him?

For a moment, everyone's minds raced as they tried to figure out how to adjust their attitude toward the meeting.

Wu Chen paid no attention to the others' reactions.

He merely felt Min Xinrou, who was standing beside him, give a distinct shudder.

Then he remembered the girl who had handed him evidence of Wang Hongfa's crimes in his previous life.

She had been even younger than Min Xinrou, and the inhuman physical and mental torment she had suffered had made her emotionally sensitive.

Even if she later succeeded in taking revenge, she would probably spend the rest of her life in its shadow.

And now, whether it was Min Xinrou beside him or the girl who would soon enroll, he didn't want either of them to get hurt.

So Wu Chen calmly stood up and addressed everyone:

"It happened just as Section Chief Zhao said. Yang Yuanjing deliberately provoked another student. The two eventually came into conflict, and she used a sharp object to injure someone, nearly causing serious consequences. I personally recommend that she receive a demerit and be placed on probation, and that she publicly apologize to Min Xinrou and me."

Wang Hongfa gave him a cold look.

"A teacher at your level has no authority to decide how a student should be disciplined. Besides, from what I understand, wasn't it Min Xinrou here who laid hands on her first?"

"I think that remains open to debate."

Wu Chen shrugged.

The others stared at him, dumbfounded.

In a university system resembling a caste system, who would dare make trouble in front of a leader without achievements or backing?

Sure enough, Wang Hongfa's fat face fell completely.

"Wu Chen, do you think that just because you've published three papers in top journals, you can violate professional ethics and ignore university discipline?"

Wu Chen raised an eyebrow. "Then may I ask, Dean Wang, what professional ethics have I violated?"

"You..."

Wang Hongfa was just about to point a finger in his face and curse him out when a knock at the meeting room door interrupted him.

"...Come in!"

After a pause, Wang Hongfa snarled.

Zhang Wei, the student counselor sitting by the door, immediately sprang up and dashed over to open it.

Standing outside were Yang Yuanjing and her two roommates.

Yang Yuanjing had changed into a clean, plain outfit. She wore no makeup, high heels, or stockings, and she appeared to have cried her heart out: her eyes and the tip of her nose were red and swollen.

Seeing her looking like a delicate little white flower, Wu Chen noticed that Li Lan and the others all wore sympathetic expressions.

A barely perceptible glint of satisfaction flashed in Wang Hongfa's eyes. After quickly exchanging a glance with Yang Yuanjing, he resumed his composed tone.

"Wu Chen, since you want to know what professional ethics you've violated, let the person involved tell us!"

Yang Yuanjing put on a weak expression and dragged her feet to the front of the meeting room.

She didn't speak immediately. Instead, she first bowed deeply to everyone.

When she raised her head, her eyes were already brimming with tears, as though she might burst into sobs at any moment.

"Teachers, I'm Yang Yuanjing from Class 6 of the 2006 software engineering cohort at the School of Information Engineering. Because of a disagreement today in the cafeteria with my roommate, Min Xinrou, we not only caused trouble for everyone but also had a very bad impact on Information Engineering and the university. Please forgive us and give us a chance to turn over a new leaf."

With that, she bowed again.

"Oh, it's all right as long as you're okay. Xiao Yang, there's no need for that. The leaders here are all reasonable people. You just need to explain clearly what happened today!"

Zhang Wei, who was closest to her, immediately spoke up to comfort Yang Yuanjing.

Li Lan and the others also nodded approvingly.

Whatever Yang Yuanjing had done in the cafeteria, her apologetic attitude alone made it easy to take a liking to her.

This time, Yang Yuanjing held her bow longer.

After she straightened up, she didn't defend her actions as everyone expected. Instead, she took a deep breath and spoke as though she had made up her mind about something.

"Teachers, first I'd like to apologize to Min Xinrou. Although she hit me, I know that all kinds of disagreements can arise between classmates. I also suffer from depression, so it's easy for me to upset people and cause misunderstandings. It's all my fault."

With that, she suddenly turned to Min Xinrou and bowed yet again.

"Min Xinrou, I'm sorry. From now on, I'll take my medicine on time and actively seek treatment. I won't disturb your rest again!"

Caught off guard, Min Xinrou froze on the spot and anxiously waved her hands.

She wanted to say that she had never said Yang Yuanjing disturbed her, and that she hadn't intended to hit her either. It was just that what Yang Yuanjing had said earlier was so vicious that she couldn't help giving her a push.

But with Wang Hongfa, Li Lan, and Zhang Wei watching her, she became so nervous that her words came out in a jumble, and she couldn't get a single sentence straight for a long while.

Yang Yuanjing gave her no chance to defend herself.

After straightening up, she suddenly shrank back, looking frightened yet resolute, and spoke again in a low voice.

"Teachers, the main reason I'm here today is actually to report something to you. Teacher Wu Chen, sitting over there, has sexually harassed me on multiple occasions!"